Before and After
by JuggsGotYa
Summary: He was a mountain of man, but that was not what had left an impression on her. A story that explores the origins and theoretical future of Agent Maine.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first story, and it is basically my back story and theoretical future of Agent Main. Be sure to let me know what you think.

When she first saw him she was not that impressed. He stood over seven feet tall with massive shoulders and arms like tree trunks, his barrel of a chest would make an ox jealous. Strong was good but Carolina had seen large men burn out in training before their first week was out,she was sure he would not last. Much to her surprise the giant of a man had made it through the hellish experience of training and the selection process. The mountain of a man had caught her attention, but her interest was not piqued until she saw him in the final stages of the process that would decide who among the few remaining recruits would be allowed into the project. Of the five remaining hopefuls only one would be selected for the project. The five stood in an arena among a variety of weapons they would use to showcase their skill, strength, and versatility. They were all dressed minimally, no armor or protection against any attacks.

Apart from the mountain; as she had taken to calling him, there were two other men, one was of a large athletic build and wore a cocky look on his face, the other was a lanky looking grim faced youth that eyed the other candidates with predatory eyes. The two females standing opposite the mountain were almost the same in terms of their build, but their personalities were drastically different. One was bouncing from foot to foot eagerly anticipating the opportunity to show her skills, the other stood stoically eying the opposition with a cold calculating glare. Compared to the others more defined and athletic builds the mountain looked almost fat, and was sure to be quite slow. She did not give him much of a chance compared to the others, in contrast to how fast some the others would be, his size would mean nothing.

When they were give the signal to begin all of the candidates ran for a weapon, a staff, a sword, anything that would give them an edge. Much to her surprise the mountain dashed forward with an astonishing speed for a man of his size forgoing any weapon at all. With a powerful strike to the stomach followed up by a quick uppercut quickly eliminated the energetic young woman as she hit the floor like a bag of sand. The other woman's stoic mask broke for a moment when she saw the power at which he had dealt with one of top cadets. She dealt a powerful overhead two handed strike with her staff. The wood met with his neck and he did not react, instead of flinching from pain he gripped the staff and tossed the weapon with woman attached across the arena like a rag doll. She righted herself and landed without issue but it had become clear that the mountain was more than a lumbering brute. Carolina now watch with a keen eye, this man just kept proving her wrong.

It became clear to Carolina that the tactics of the other three had changed. They were no longer concerned with one another for the moment, the main target was the giant that stood in the middle of the arena. The two other male candidates charged in unison hoping to take out their mutual threat. The lanky youth; with a staff in hand, leapt into the air weapon high overhead as his temporary ally charged head on with twin waster swords in hand. Their combined effort met with failure when their foe shrugged off the blows and garbed the larger of the two by face with a vice like grip and hefted him into the air with little effort and bashed him into the other attacker. The two bodies met with a loud thud as both men crashed to the floor.

The two recovered quickly and resumed their attack throwing any strategy to the wind in their desperate attempt to neutralize the beast that stood before them. Their strikes were ferocious but undisciplined and erratic. Any blow that landed on the body of their foe seemed to have little to no effect on the man. The assault lasted for several moments when in a flash the mountain of a man gripped the two men by their necks and smashed their skulls together rendering them unconscious. Carolina could have sworn she heard the man growl like an animal that had just snatched up his prey. But he was oblivious to the approach of final recruit. In the chaos of the fight the mountain had forgotten about the final female candidate.

With clean, precise, but powerful strikes she unloaded blow after blow onto her target. She delivered surgical jabs with her staff to his knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck and the nerves on the inside of his thigh to break her target's stability. As she pressed her advantage on her much larger opponent her tactics became less conservative and she began to focus finishing her foe. Her staff began to spin and whirl as she struck him in the throat and face with large sweeping blows. Carolina watched impressed as the much smaller woman was overcoming the mountain of a man "She fights smart" she said to herself as she watched the other repeatedly struck him in his brows with intention of drawing blood to blind her opponent. When he raised his forearm to his face to wipe the blood away she made her final move. With grace one would expect from a dancer she lept and spun gaining momentum and dealt a savage strike to the right temple of the mountain. There was a sickening crack and Carolina though for a moment that his neck had been broken, but to her surprise it was the attacker's staff. The blow had forced him onto his knee but had not finished him, the shocked look on the female recruits face was easily seen even from a distance.

With hopes of putting this to an end she charged once more, but this assault was sloppy by comparison. The remnants of her staff hurtled down towards his skull but the strike was halted. The strain on the young woman's face was clearly evident as she fought the iron grip of the mountain. For the second time in less than a minute a sickening crack echoed through arena, this time however the blow was delivered by a devastating uppercut that lifted his foe off the ground. Again displaying surprising speed for his size he gripped her ankle and slammed the stunned body of his opponent hard into the ground, this was followed by him tossing her to the side like child would do with a toy once he was bored of it. There was loud beep that signaled the end of the test, without so much as a grin the mountain walked from the arena cracking his neck. Against all her prediction this man had made it through all the test, training, and the selection process and would become the newest agent of Project Freelancer. This was one rookie she would have to keep an eye on.


	2. Chapter 2

Carolina made her way to the locker room with a single goal at the forefront of her mind. When she entered the area she found her mark. The mountain was stood tall at his locker changing from the training attire to something more appropriate for his meeting with the director. As she approached she could see the coils of muscle moving under his flesh with every movement no matter how minute. The first impression most would get from him would be a large overweight thug. But to the trained eye it was clear that he cared little about the "glamor" muscle so many men were concerned about, every ounce of muscle on him was focus on raw functional power. As he finished dressing himself Carolina spoke up "Hey" at the sound the mountain turned to face her.

This was the first time she had gotten a good look at the mountain. He was not what a normal woman would call attractive. While she would not call him ugly, his features were ferocious and sported several scars across his face. His brow was pronounced and cast fierce shadow over steely eyes. His nose was relatively large and broad, almost like the nose one would expect to see on the face of a caveman or Viking. A strong jaw like an anvil had a long deep scar running up his cheek stopping a few inches beneath his right eye. These fierce features on his shaved head; which sat on a thick neck, created an intimidating presence.

"Those were some nice moves, you fight with the grace of a tank but you sure can take a hit like one"

"Thanks" was all he said in gravely voice giving her a curt nod.

Carolina raised an eyebrow, she was expecting more of a response than that usually the candidates that made the cut into the project were quite excited and often quite talkative, she recalled with smile thinking of York. "Not a big talker huh?' she half questioned already knowing what the answer would be. She received the expected response of a shaken head as opposed to words. "So… the strong and quiet type, we don't have one of those yet, honestly I could use a lot less jabber from my teammates" she said jokingly while taking a seat on the bench behind him. Her comment earn a very quiet chuckle from the mountain, she smirked and pressed her conversational advantage "They give you your codename yet?"

"Maine" he grumbled, as he sat down next to her. She wasn't entirely surprised, there were a few case where an agent received their title before officially completing training, usually when they were pretty much guaranteed on beating out the other candidates; York, Wyoming, and herself were the few that came to mind, the Director must have seen his potential before the rest of them.

"What about your real name? You got one of those?" the question was more of a joke than a legitimate question, his reaction was not what he expected.

"No" he mumbled before setting to the task of tying his shoes. Carolina did not know how to respond to that so she just remained quiet for a few moments before replying

"Sorry" was all she could think of saying to him.

"Not your fault" he stated before closing his locker and turning to leave the locker room.

"I look forward to sparring with you Maine" she called after him as he left the locker room. He stopped for a moment and half turned towards her and gave her a nod.

As the weeks passed Carolina had begun to see more of Maine around the compound, she could tell by the way he held himself he was quickly becoming bored with the mundane training in the use of non-combat equipment and tours of the facility; which to be honest was frustrating her as well due to the fact that the whole operation would soon be moving onto the Mother of Invention, and she was eager to get a sparring match with the rookie. She wanted to see how he stacked up against a single; but far more experienced, opponent. She would finally get her chance a few days later.

The day started like many did, with Carolina eating breakfast in the chow hall when York walked over with his tray and took a seat across from her.

"How's it going Carolina, it feels like I haven't seen you in a week" he questioned her in a joking manner

"You've been on a mission for the past week, smart ass" she deadpanned in respond.

"Well that would explain that, so what have I missed"even though he smirked as he spoke, his question was genuine.

"Not much, the new guy is finally going to be allowed on mission, and you know what that means" she said with a devious smile.

York whistled "I feel sorry for him, with the joy of full freelancer privileges comes the burden of sparring with your fellow freelancers, and I know how much you like to test the new meat" he said in in joking manner.

"Ha-ha you are hilarious York" she responded her voice dripping in sarcasm. She knew she could be tough on the new recruits, but that was just the way it had to be, if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen.

"Come on you have to admit you do tend to put the new recruits through the ringer" York spoke from experience, Carolina had bruised three of his ribs in their first match. But the two had become quite close after that match.

"Well I have to make sure that they can keep up with me" she responded with a smirk.

"All joking aside though have you been able to get a read on that guy? He's barley said three words to me". Poking the food on her plate for a moment as she thought of how to respond.

"He seems to be inhumanly strong and tough and he's built like an ox, but his personality is hard to read" she said simply. It was true, apart from the short talk they had shared they had not really spoken to one another.

"Well… no better way to get to know someone than to fight them" York spoke as he took a drink from his coffee. She nodded her head in agreement, she would talk to the Director later and set up for her match with Maine.

As Carolina entered the arena she noticed he was already there, out of his armor dressed as he was on the day she had first had seen him fight. She herself was dress similarly in a black tank top, sweatpants, and was barefoot. This was a raw test of their human physicality, no armor and no weapons.

"Glad to see you made it, I practically had to drag York here for our first match" she said smirking looking up at the observation deck where she saw York shaking his head. He did not respond but she did see a shadow of smile on normally grim face. "Hope you're ready to fight a real opponent, I won't hold back" she thought she heard him growl in in response but dismissed it as her imagination.

Both combatants took their stances and waited to sound of the starting bell. It seemed like hours before the bell sounded the beginning of the match, and as Carolina had predicted Maine charged full steam towards her. He lowered his shoulder and rammed her hard, but she was well prepared for the hit and blocked. Carolina was not prepared for the amount of force he delivered and was sent flying back. She maintained her balance and landed skidding back a few more feet before stopping. 'Shit he's not playing around' she thought to herself 'No more blocking, I can't keep taking hits like that'. Maine charged again this time unloading a flurry of savage hay makers, all of which Carolina managed to dodge with relative ease.

As his assault continue she analyzed his approach, he was fast for his size but this encumbered by the sheer amount of muscle his frame held, he would most likely be relying on wide strikes and grappling. With this in mind Carolina went on the offensive. She ducked under another of strike and delivered a precise kick to the back of his knees. With his balance lost Carolina quickly capitalized and lept up and struck him on both sides of his head; boxing his ears and disturbing his internal balance, followed up by savage kick to his sternum sending giant tumbling. He landed on his side facing away from her, as she approach to try end their match he quickly rolled over and tried to deliver a powerful hammer blow against his opponent. Carolina barley managed to dodge the strike; which had managed to crack to concrete floor of the sparring arena. This time she was sure she heard him growl as he pulled himself to his feet to continue their match. Carolina smirked, she knew he wouldn't disappoint her.

This time it was her turn to charge, she ducked under another strike and delivered a powerful elbow to his abdomen to drive the air from him lungs. As Maine gasped she dealt series of sever strike to his ribs with blinding speed. He lurched forward to try and grab his assailant, however his hands managed to only grip air as Carolina slipped just out of his reach only to jump forward and strike him hard between the eyes with her knee. As Maine stumbled back the pain registered in Carolina's hands and knee, it was nothing serious but there was a definite soreness that was not usually there after she hit someone 'Damn it, hitting him is like hitting a piece of iron'. She did not dwell on it for long though, Maine had already recovered and was charging again. Carolina almost sighed at him using the same tactic, but them he did something she would not have expected. Instead of trying to hit or ram into her, he slid trying to knock her feet out from under her. She leapt into the air easily dodging the attempted sweep, but quickly realized her mistake when she felt the vice like grip of Maine wrap around her ankle.

For the first time in a long time she felt helpless as Maine quickly righted himself into a standing position and went right into spinning Carolina around several time before throwing her across the arena like a rag doll. Pulling herself to her feet she heard the telltale pounding that signaled the charging Maine. He was nearly upon her before she realized it, she moved too late too fully doge one of his hay maker, as her head spun she felt one of sledgehammer fist connect with her abdomen and was certain he had crack a few ribs. She knew she had to act fast; this was the exact combo he used to eliminate the first girl in his entry match, so she struck out hard with her right. Her strike found it mark, while her kick did little damage to Maine it did manage to put distance between her and her foe. 'Shit I underestimated him' was all that ran through her mind as Maine continued brutal assault. Ignoring the pain in ribs she dodged his strike knowing the next landed hit would finish the match.

This was the first Carolina had been forced into the defensive in a sparring match, she would normally outclass anyone she came up against but this guy was different. He just seemed to shrug off any blow she managed to land on him, and she was starting to tire. It seemed are her martial arts training meant nothing against this mountain of a man. No she could beat him, she had tried to fight him like he was any other opponent, but there were no others like him. She needed to use his size against him, it was risky but it was the only option. She waited for the proper moment to present itself and it did. One of his rare strait right jabs flew past her head as she drifted to the side. Using his own momentum she spun around pulling his arm tight to her chest and slid smoothly up against him. She popped her hip into his pelvis and pulled his arm which intern dragged his body over her shoulder, even with his own momentum working for her it felt like trying to move a tank. When his body hit the floor she quickly spun on the balls of her feet and locked her feet together as she feel backwards pulling him into in arm bar. Trying to get his arm to straighten out was like trying to bend an I-beam with your bare hands. With sweat pouring down her brow she popped her hips once again, this time into his elbow and finally it gave out and she the arm bar locked in.

"It's over Maine submit before I break your elbow" she warned but he continued to struggle. He then did something she would not have even thought of, he was standing up with her latched to his arm. 'Shit…well I warned him' she thought herself as she applied the final amount of pressure needed, the sound of a breaking joint was painful to hear but she could also feel it as it snapped.

Carolina cringed slightly, but whatever pity she felt for Maine quickly evaporated when he violently swung his body and shook her from his right arm which not hung limply at his side. She heard him growl again and charge once more 'How the hell is he going to keep fighting with a broken elbow' but she did not dwell on it as Maine dropped his shoulder once more and tried to ram her once more, this time however she sidestep the charging juggernaut and delivered a violent axe kick to his temple trying keep him down for good. As he skidded on the floor she thought it was finally over, but she watched almost in awe as Maine struggled to get back onto his feet using his one good arm. He managed to get onto his feet and turned to face Carolina, he was bleeding profusely from his right temple where she had kicked him. The blood running into eye made it impossible for him to see out of it at the moment, but he held a determined look etched on his features, he was not going to give up.

Carolina realized at that point if she did not end this soon one of the might actually end up dead. This time she charged her foe hoping she would be able to end this quickly, with only one good arm his defensive option were extremely limited but she still had to proceed with caution, she could not afford to underestimate him again. Her strategy was to try and get behind him and get a blood choke hold in on him and knock him out as it seemed very unlikely striking would not work. As she closed in she saw his muscle tighten ready to strike out at her. Carolina faked left and when he struck out she dove passed his right side and quickly spun and jumped onto his back wrapping her right arm around his neck and placing her hand in the crook of her left elbow. As she tightened her arm around his thick neck she used her left arm to try and force his head forward the help apply more pressure. She wrapped her legs around his waist to avoid being thrown off by the thrashing that would soon occur.

As the pressure increased the blood flow through the arteries to his brain was cut off. Maine struggled to try and grab the young woman on his back but she held on tight. 'Just a few more seconds' she thought to herself as Maine tried desperately to free himself, but as the oxygenated blood in his brain ran out he began to slow his struggle. With one last effort he swung his one good arm back and managed to grip Carolina's trapezius muscle and gripped it hard. As his thumb dug under the muscle Carolina let out a gasp and bit her lower lip but did not release the hold. He gripped harder in the hopes of dislodging her, but she held fast. As Carolina began to taste blood in her mouth Maine's grip loosened and he began to fall backwards. Carolina's eyes shot open wide when she realized what was happening, before she could react they hit the floor with a load thud and she was now certain her ribs were now broken. She managed to dislodge herself from under Maine just as FILISS announced her the victor. Carolina smiled to herself, she certainly did not feel like she had won that fight.

Carolina turned to face Maine, he was just starting to regain consciousness. She walked over to him and offered him her hand "Good fight rookie". He eyed her questioningly for a moment before smirking and taking her hand as she helped him up and grumbled a simply "Thanks" "Come on let's get you the medics" as they turned to leave the arena they noticed York walking in

"Ho-Ho-Holy Shit! I have never seen anyone put Carolina through the ringer like, good job man" he said cheerily give Maine a light punch in his good arm.

"Better watch yourself York or you might have to fight him next" Carolina responded jokingly

"No thanks I'm quite fond of living" he said with a smirk as the three of them headed to the infirmary.


	3. Chapter 3

The infirmary smelled heavily of disinfectant and medication, it was a smell Maine very familiar with. His particular method of fighting meant that more often than not he would end up spending time in this section of the base after a training or sparring session. All things considered he was doing rather well, the medics had patched him up and had said he would be back to 100% shortly. He clenched his right hand into fist testing it making sure it still worked like before, he grimaced at the pain that shot up his arm. He looked at the bed next to him where is opponent fared little better than he did, she had a compressive bandage wrapped around her torso to help with her cracked and broken ribs. At that moment they heard the door to the infirmary open and in walked York holding a camera.

"Well would you look at that, my two favorite wounded warriors are right where I left them" he said with smirk. His comment earned him glares from both Maine and Carolina.

"What's with the camera for York?" Carolina asked knowing his answer was going be either stupid or a smart ass comment.

"Well my dear Carolina I thought I would take a photograph to commemorate our new friendship with our dear companion Maine" he replied with a false tone of sophistication in his voice.

She sighed at his response, she should have expected something like this from him. He was always trying to; as he put it "create memories". Out of the corner of her eye she saw Maine stand up and stride over to York. Before he could say anything Maine punched him hard in his left eye with his good hand.

"AHHH, what the hell was that for you psycho!" York shouted at Maine holding his injured eye "Oh this is definitely gonna be bruised" he moaned in pain.

"Can't have you be the only pretty looking one" Maine said with a smirk on his face.

Behind them they heard snicker that evolved into a snort of laughed, that was shortly followed a groan of pain. They turned to see Carolina trying hard not to laugh so she would aggravate her damaged ribs. At this sight York started to snicker at both her misfortune and his own as well. Looking at the other two he supposed he couldn't really complain about a black eye, Carolina had given him worse when he really annoyed her.

"Okay fair enough big guy, but you're gonna owe me for giving me this shiner" York said at the smirking Maine, who simply grunted in response.

York found a spot to set is camera for a group photo of the three battered freelancers. The look on Carolina's face was less than thrilled at the prospect. Regardless York set the timer and walked over and knelt down between the two.

"You're serious about this?" Carolina asked in a dishearten tone "We look like we've just been in a bar fight" she said only half trying to convince him to back off.

"Exactly, I have never seen you get anything close to a serious injury, and the Maine over there is practically a human tank; not to mention he's actually smiling for once, I don't think I'll ever get a chance to get a pic with both of you looking so human" he responded still smiling at the two of them. His response earned a snort from both of them.

"Fine, just hurry up" Carolina finally relented.

"Awe, what's wrong Carolina, you don't want others to that pretty face of yours with a big welt on it?" York's teasing earned him a glare from Carolina. He just snickered as the timer counted down "Okay everyone smile" he said giving a thumbs up to the camera. With beep followed by bright flash Carolina's torture was over.

York stood up and grabbed his camera, and flipped it over to examine how it had come out. His smile turned into a laugh as he examined it. Maine held his animalistic smirk on his face, while Carolina's face was half-way between a sneer and a smile. He shook his head, this was not exactly what he had in mind when he came here.

"A sneer is not a smile Carolina, let's try one more" He said knowing he was pushing luck, but with her bandaged up he was feeling a little daring than normal.

"Nope, one is all you get take it or leave it" the tone in her voice left no room for argument. H

"Okay, Okay… You know I prefer it this way anyhow, it shows the real you" he said as he dodge a pillow thrown by Carolina.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?" she asked getting exasperated with York's pestering.

"Alright I know when I'm not wanted, I'll let you two have some alone time" he responded waggling his eyebrows. This intern earn him another pillow being thrown at his head, and struck him in his bad eye.

"It's not like that you ass!" she shouted after him as he was leaving the infirmary holding his bruised eye.

"Whatever you say Carolina! ... I'll see you guys tomorrow when they let you out!" he shouted back from the opposite end of the room, he was still smirking as he left annoying Carolina to no end. She looked across from her where Maine wore a confused look on his face.

"Don't pay any attention to him, York's just being a dick" she said as she got up to retrieve her pillows from the floor.

"Is he always like that?" Maine inquired, already speaking much more frequently than he was comfortable.

"Sometimes, but you get used to him, and he will always have your back, there is no one else here I'd rather have with me in a fire fight" she responded setting her pillows back the uncomfortable hospital mattress that would be her bed that night.

"Pretty close huh" Maine's voice almost sounded almost dejected, but Carolina dismissed the thought.

"What's up? You're awfully talkative today, the first time we met you literally said six words to me" she inquired about the change in his demeanor.

"Just tired" was all he gave as a response as he laid down and turned off his bed side lamp and muttered a quick "Night" before closing his eyes.

"Okay…Night, I'll see you in the morning" she was not entirely satisfied with his answer, but she tired too and was going to leave the issue alone. She just hoped that he would be better in the morning.

The two soldiers awoke early the next morning, although they were not in their normal quarters their rituals were the same as always. They washed themselves the best they could; given the restriction placed upon them by their injuries. As Carolina entered the small personal washroom provided the patients she took stock of her injuries in the mirror.

The bruise on her cheek had worsened considerably in the night, but that injury seemed tame compared to the large hand shaped mark on her trapezius where Maine had managed to get a grip on her. She would have been impressed if it didn't hurt so much. These two eyesores coupled with her busted ribs, bruised knuckles, and strained ligaments in her knee; courtesy of Maine's forehead, left her looking very much the worse for wear. As she stepped under the hot water she let out a long sigh as the heat soothed the soreness in her muscles. Although she greatly enjoyed the heat of the shower, she did not make it a habit to take very long. She excited quickly, dried herself off and got dressed in what she referred to as "leisure clothes", there was no way she was putting on armor for a while.

As she re-entered the main medical bay she noticed Maine walking out of one of the other washrooms. As he pulled his t-shirt over his head she noticed the bruises than riddled his torso from her strikes. It may sound cruel but she was almost glade to see her assault had at least damaged her opponent, even if it did seem to bother him. As Maine put his sling back on they both turned to the sound of an opening door.

"Rise and shine…oh you're already up, well that takes away from my morning fun. Anyhow I came to escort you two breakfast, I wouldn't want you guys to be mobbed by your adoring fans" York said cheerfully as he approached the two.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Carolina inquired for both herself and Maine.

"Well, after your match word spread throughout the compound. Carolina faced off against the Giant Maine. He was ten feet tall and was 700 pounds of raw muscle, and he almost took out the best agent in the program" he spoke the last part as if he was announcing for a sideshow.

"Good lord are they really talking like that?" Carolina said in an exasperated tone as she face palmed.

"Well… like two guys were talking like that, but yeah the whole compound is buzzing about your match" he responded in a very matter of fact manner.

"Shit… well let's just get going and get this over with, Maine stick close you've never had to deal with "Fan boys" before, they can be ruthless" she spoke the last part with a slight smirk. Maine quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but decided he heed her advice. They left the infirmary and prepared to run the gauntlet, it was going to be a long morning and they hadn't even had breakfast yet.


	4. Chapter 4

The walk to the mess hall was as chaotic as Carolina had expected. While none of the other agents bother her and Maine, a great deal of the "Fresh Faced" rookies were swarming around them like buzzing flies. Some of the veterans tried to stem the tide, but most of them just watched with amused looks on their faces. Carolina glared daggers at those who dared get close enough to bother her.

After reaching their destination with relatively ease; Maine almost throw a new mechanic through a door, they set to the task of acquiring their morning meals. York and Carolina watched in mild amusement as Maine tried his hardest to balance two trays stack high with food with his one good arm.

"Let me help ya big guy" York offered taking one of the tray from Maine before he spilled his meal everywhere, to which Maine gave a grateful nod.

The trio found a table in the corner of the hall, trying to avoid any unwanted attention as much as possible. After a few quiet moments they were interrupted by the voice of another freelancer.

"Holy Crap! Carolina is that you? Geez you look like you got hit by a train" the inquiring; and obnoxious, voice belong to agent South Dakota.

"Hello South… Maine this is agent South Dakota and her twin brother North Dakota, North , South this is our new agent Maine" Carolina said in a flat tone gesturing to each of them in turn, before introducing Maine.

"Good to meet you Maine" North said extending his left hand for an awkward handshake while South seemed completely oblivious to the new agent, still intent on finding out what had happened to the project's number one agent.

"Yeah that's cool, so Carolina I reiterate, you look like you got hit by a train what the hell happened?" South inquired once more ignoring the slightly annoyed look Maine gave her.

"Well, that "train" you're asking about would be Maine here" York answered for her with a tone a little to chipper for Carolina's liking.

"Well no shit" South said finally taking the time to look at Maine. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly when she took note of the massive wall of muscle before her. "So you're the one who put Carolina through her paces huh?" She said sitting down across from Maine placing her helmet and tray on the table.

"Still lost" was his only response as he set tucked into his mountain of food not even bothering to look up at her. He didn't seemed too bothered by the fact he had lost, he was just stating a fact.

"Yeah, but you're the first one to do that to her, she usually walks all over us in sparring matches" South responded gesturing to Carolina. Maine didn't respond he just shrugged.

"How kind of you South, it's nice to know you care" Carolina said sarcastically, but South had no response she just rested her chin in her hand and started poking at her food stealing an occasional glance at Maine.

Before anyone could speak again there was the telltale crackle over the intercom that always came before an announcement

"I need Agents Maine and Carolina to report to my office immediately" the director southern drawl echoed through the mess hall. It was never a good sign when the director made an announcement himself, and everyone at the table looked at the two agents with concern. Carolina simply stood up, turned to the exit and began to walk out, her face was devoid of emotion. Maine on the other hand growled in annoyance at not getting to finish his meal and shoveled as much bacon into his mouth as he could before standing and following Carolina.

"Hey, good luck you guys" North said sympathetically as they left the table, he knew how tough the director could be. Yet despite his concern for his friend he couldn't help but notice his sister's eye following Maine.

"You need a napkin South?" York said with a mouth full of food, but the laugh in his voice was still evident.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" She questioned back confused by his inquiry.

"He's saying he saw you drooling over the new guy" Her brother laughed as he watched her blush.

"Shut the hell up … pricks" South mumbled the last part to herself as she tried to focus on her food and not the snickering of her brother and York.

"Three bruised ribs, two broken, a strained knee ligament, deep bruising of left trapezoid, a broken right elbow, a partially collapse trachea, a mild concussion, along with a slew of other minor injuries between the two of you. At what Point did this sparring match get so far from you're control Carolina?" the directors voice was even, almost calm sounding, but both agents heard the edge in his voice. When she did not answer he applied more pressure "Well Agent?! You were the senior Agent in the match you should have stopped this before it got so out of hand" his voice cut her deeper than any knife could. But before she could answer a growl from here left drew both their attention.

"My fault" was all Maine said, but it was enough to draw the Director's attention away from Carolina.

"What was that Agent?" The Director asked his voice as calm as ever.

"I said it was my fault, I kept escalating my attack and did not surrender when Agent Carolina locked my arm, she warned me what would happen and I did not listen. It got out of hand because of me…My fault" It was the most the other two had ever heard Maine speak at one time.

"And what; may I ask, caused you to so willing put yourself and Agent Carolina in a situation where injury was so certain?" his voice was so calm, and yet so powerful it made both agents feel like small children being scolded.

"Sir, if I may…" Carolina started but was cut off.

"No, you may not" he said sharply causing Carolina to back down, he then turned his attention back to Maine. "Well Agent I'm waiting"

"I wanted to win" Maine spoke with conviction and confidence and this seemed to cool the Director, if only slightly.

"We all have the desire to be the best, Agent, in fact it is quality we seek in our top agents and I can respect that desire. But you acted foolishly and now our best Agent is on forced medical leave, and now you will have to be kept from field even longer than anticipated. Do you realize how much damage you have done to our cause?" he said turning his back on the two of them and sitting down at his desk.

"Yes Sir" were the only words to come from Maine's mouth.

"Very well, what's done is done, I expect you two to act more intelligently in the future, and I sincerely hope we do not have this problem again, have I made myself clear?" they weren't sure if he was trying to be condescending or not, but his point was made.

"Yes Sir" both said in unison

"Good, you are dismissed" his steely voice seemed to echo in their minds as they left.

"What the HELL WAS THAT?" Carolina shouted at Maine once they had gotten a decent distance away from The Director's office.

"What?" Maine asked in a confused tone.

"Why did you take the wrap for the whole thing? You know it was just as much my fault! I don't need you to protect me, I can take care of myself!" she let out an exasperate sigh before continuing "You know you're probably going to be on his shit list now, do you have any idea how much of hell he can make your life?" she shouted at the giant of man in front of her, she was so angry she didn't notice the slight look of hurt in his eye.

"Don't understand" he said simply before turning to walk away.

"What don't I understand?!" she shouted after him but he did not turn around, he just continued his march down the hall away from her. He passed by York; who was on his way to check on them, Carolina heard him ask Maine how it went. Even from the fair distance away she heard him growl at York before throwing a punch into the steel wall to his left leaving a large dent in the metal.

"Well he's taking it well, what the hell happened?" York inquired as he reached Carolina.

"The director was not pleased with our sparring match, he said we both took too much damage, now we're both on medical leave" she said simply.

"Is that it? I mean it sucks that you won't be in field but if It were me I'd almost be happy for the time off" he responded in almost a joking manner.

"Well, Maine took it upon himself to take blame for the whole incident, and I blew up on him" she said the last part in a regretful tone.

"He didn't take it too well huh... I wonder" York said more to himself than to her.

"You wonder what?" Carolina inquired almost aggressively.

" It's nothing, just a passing thought" he said in a calm tone.


End file.
